Good Governance
A government in a democratic society must be accountable and transparent for its members, for its citizens. A government must be reliable and must work with the best for its people as its number one aim. The SJC argue that a number of governmental decisions show that our government are not accountable. The now long going arms deal saga is but one example of how the billions of rand that could and should have been spent on improving the everyday life of the people living in South Africa, is instead wasted on airplanes and weapons. These weapons will not feed or shelter our people, these airplanes will not lift the millions and millions of people living below poverty line out of their misery. The still unexamined accusation of corruption in the arms deal is yet another reason why we demand accountable governance. Corruption, in all its forms, whether high or low, small or big, is ruining every chance to build a just society.
The SJC demands good governance, through marches, speeches, meetings, petitions, letter, articles, in short, in every possible way we can demand it. Our members form together to meet our politicians, to show them that we are not happy and we will not stop until we can rely on our elected leaders to have our best, all of us, as their goal.
Social Justice Organisations denounce the arrest of Sunday Times journalist, Mzilikazi wa Afrika
A free press is essential to democracy, transparency and the attainment of equality
We are organisations that campaign for social justice. The success of our work is dependent on respect for the Constitution, especially the Bill of Rights. The right to free expression and freedom of the press and other media are essential components of democracy. That is why they are contained in the Bill of Rights. They are one of the essential means by which all people in South Africa, especially the vulnerable, exploited and poor, can hold government and the powerful private business sector to account.
This week Mzilikazi wa Afrika, a Sunday Times journalist, was arrested in Rosebank Johannesburg. The circumstances, manner and cause of his arrest all seem to point to intimidation by the state and attempts to suppress freedom of expression.
The arrest follows the exposure by the Sunday Times of questionable dealings by the National Police Commissioner, Bheki Cele. It comes during a national debate over proposed legislation to curtail press freedom, i.e. proposals for a new Protection of Information Act, changes to the Criminal Procedure Act and the ANC's proposals to establish a media tribunal.
We therefore unequivocally condemn the arrest of wa Afrika.
The media in South Africa, as anywhere else in the world, is very powerful and influential. We are not blind to its many shortcomings. The quality of journalism in South Africa is often mediocre. Newspapers, magazines and television sometimes make serious errors, permit unethical advertising and sometimes make false charges against individuals.
We are concerned that the main media houses are overly concentrated in the hands of a few large corporations and consequently primarily represent the interests of a relatively small affluent portion of the population, thereby paying insufficient attention to the interests of poor and working class people.
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